Over 100 homes lost to bush fires in Australia

On Friday, the fires gathered pace and 53 homes were ruined – 35 in the Wye River community and another 18 in Separation Creek, both around 75 miles from Melbourne.

Hundreds of firefighters spent Christmas battling the blaze, which was triggered by a lightning strike.

Emergency services lifted an evacuation alert from the tourist town of Lorne, after overnight rain helped stabilise the blaze – but top officials warned the fires were far from out.

Some of the buildings destroyed were holiday homes.

Wye River households destroyed in the Great Ocean Road fires.

Victoria Emergency Management Commissioner Craig Lapsley commended the residents for following the evacuation warning.

“It will grow back and things will be rebuilt and this is just gong to be part of the history of the town down the track and a story that we tell”.

“At the moment no one’s allowed in yet because it’s still out of control, so we’re on standby”, she said.

However, many of those forced to leave their homes had to spend Christmas night in hastily-arranged shelters.

Thirteen aircraft are being used to fight the fire, which is not particularly large at 2,200 hectares, and has the potential to flare up again in the coming week, he added.

Australia’s hot, dry climate makes wildfires a major risk in the southern hemisphere’s summer.

The Twelve Apostles, one of the most famous sights along the Great Ocean Road, closed by emergency services.

Local CFA brigade captain Roy Moriarty said Wye River’s long-standing fire safety plan had helped save the town.

The main firefront had not gone through Kennet River, but firefighters defending homes there had put out spot fires and no properties had been reported burnt.

In February 2009, Victoria suffered the worst bushfires in the country’s history when 173 people were killed and hundreds were injured in multiple blazes across rural areas of the state.